In the information age, proper control of information is a key imperative. One aspect of such control is to prevent data from being lost or disclosed to unintended parties. Such loss and disclosure is often referred to as “data leakage”. For instance, random strangers should not be able to gain access to credit card numbers, passwords, and other sensitive pieces of information that do not below to them. Furthermore, organizations often have strategic information that they would very much prefer to keep out of the hands of competitors.
Data Loss Prevention (or DLP) technologies are developed with the aim to prevent the inadvertent leakage of data. In one example DLP technology, the user helps identify that a data item (such as a file or email) is sensitive typically at the time that the user creates the data item. Another conventional DLP technology involves background scanning data items that have previously been created. For instance, a machine may read data items by applying regular expressions or more sophisticated pattern matching techniques. Once a data item is deemed sensitive, a series of actions can be taken, such as protecting the data item through encryption.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.